When a liquid is poured from a container, it is often found that it is difficult to terminate pouring without having one or more drops of the liquid run down the outside of the container. This tendency to drip is largely a characteristic of the container itself, rather than a function of the pouring motion. Thus, it is known by those skilled in the art that dripping can be substantially eliminated by a combination of a properly contoured mouth or lip on the container and a non-wetting pouring surface on the lip. A well designed no-drip container will actually cause the last drops of a liquid to be pulled back into the container even if they have passed the highest point on the pouring surface.
Unfortunately, it has often been impractical to incorporate satisfactory non-drip characteristics in large numbers of mass produced containers. These containers, such as salad oil bottles, are often manufactured by a process that does not permit the desired lip configuration to be reliably and repeatedly formed at a reasonable cost. Moreover, the materials of which such containers are made are too easily wetted to effectively prevent drippage. Consumer dissatisfaction with the pour characteristics of these containers is aggravated by the fact that the containers are sometimes used over and over again to pour relatively small quantities. The dripped contents tend to accumulate on the outside of the container, leading to a messy and potentially unsanitary condition.
One known solution to the above problem is the use of a fitment, a small permanent attachment to the mouth of the container that forms the pouring surface. There are, however, a number of important problems and disadvantages associated with the use of known fitments. It is difficult to obtain a good seal between the fitment and the container because of the relatively large tolerances generally associated with such containers. Leakage can occur between the fitment and the cap or closure of the containers. Still another problem is damage to the fitment resulting from deformation of the cap, which may occur during shipment or after purchase.
It should also be appreciated that the addition of a fitment to a cap and closure packaging system necessarily converts that system from a two-element system to a three-element system. Tolerance requirements imposed by the fitment and assembly complexities attributable to the fitment must therefore be minimized if unacceptable costs are to be avoided.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a fitment, and a container, closure and fitment combination that overcomes the disadvantages of previously known fitments and satisfies the design criteria set forth above.